Wait..average Ford employee makes more than $55 an hour?

That's over 100k a year. Average.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090311/ts_nm/us_ford

42,000 workers making average of over 110k a year and the average home price in detroit is 7500 and they need a bailout? wtf?

 

Ford didn't ask for bailout money, in fact they have enough of their own to last for another two or three years even if things don't improve.

Nice try though.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/10/ford-bailout-money-unnece_n_149824.html

 

so they didn't go to congress?

I thought they did..

 

They thought about asking congress for money but decided that a) it would be bad for their image and b) they had enough money to survive for a couple of years without government help

 

wonder if GM and Chrylser are paying that high too. fucking unions. they fuck themselves over.

 

Exactly. There's been a shift in this country toward a knowledge economy. Those who take the time to educate themselves will do much better than those who perform mindless work. Those in Southeast Michigan still believe that they have a right to an upper middle class lifestyle by working a factory job.

You have a completely effed company when your line workers make more than your engineers.

 

its like the casinos.....blackjack dealers make more than their pitbosses and managers.

 

Really? Well I wouldn't want to be a casino dealer. I wonder what they'd do to you if you mucked a deal.

 

Yup, the Autoworkers Union is insane. There is no reason people should be getting paid that well for that kind of work. And I'm pretty sure they get paid great benefits as well, after they retire. I really don't feel like I should be contributing to that mess of a system.

 

they're trained pretty well. they make six figures. boring work though.

 

They get more tip money. No one gets tipped at Ford.

 

UAW workers can retire at full pay at age 48- however, they also have to have been in the union for 30 years.

 

I may be wrong on this, but I don't think this is their hourly wage. It's the company's cost per hour when factoring in benefits and such. I don't want to double check, so I may be off.

 

That is correct. Plus one has to factor in that this number is an average cost based on all of the their employees. That is probably including higher wage managers, foremen and the like. That definately ups the average.

Also about Unions. Without Union, this country would have been fucked. Before unions gained traction, workers were treated like dirt here in America. I can not picture that continuing on until this day without a revolt. That is one reason this country and its system has lasted as long as it has. Even when something comes about that the higher-ups in the system don't really like, they often give in just enough to prevent any kind of general or wide spread revolt. Are there huge problems in the some of the unions right now? Most definately. But, they are a service worth keeping around, with a little maintenance. Before I moved to Portland, I took two jobs in two seperate plywood mills in southern Oregon in order to save money to move here. The first, Roseburg Forest Products, had a Union. We had higher wages, but some of those wages went towards Union dues sort of evening out. However, what I had was assurance. My schedule never got messed with. I had very regular hours. No one could replace me at a lower wage. I could not be fired without reason. My time there was smoooooth. The next mill, however, was non-union, and the company had a ton of power over the employee. I had a schedule, but at anytime of the day or night, they could change it on me. I never knew what my day was going to be like..... if I could make plans for after work, or if I could even make plans for the weekends, as they would often tell us on friday to come in on saturday and sunday. Plus, I got lower wages.

Unions can run smooth and unions can run terribly, but they are a must, in my opinion, in this nation.

 

yes, otherwise american carmakers might be competatitve with the japanese!

 

"put together more crappy products and pay me more for it"

 

I'm in a union. It is the crappiest thing ever, for the most part. There are nice things about it, like having union protection if the company ever tries to fire you for no reason, but for the most part it sucks. People who are lazy/terrible at their job get away with sucking, people who work hard and get more work done than the others are not rewarded for their hard work. Every time the company tries to promote somebody who is not next in line by seniority, it causes a huge shitstorm. Guys that are completely worthless get promoted just because the company doesn't feel like dealing with all the bullshit. And yes, in most cases, union members with a lot of time will make more than their bosses and supervisors.

 

sounds like Obama's vision for america......

unions seem scammy to me. lots of people at the top stealing cash and shit like that, politics, and the kind of shit....favortism, etc.

 

My union has tens of thousands of people all paying 15 dollars a week in dues. I still have yet to get one cent's worth of return on mine. But the people who constantly get suspended for being horrible employees, have the union stick up for them and ultimately get their jobs back think it's worth every penny. Other than that, I'm not sure exactly where all that money goes.

 

yeah, its a socialist paradise it seems. no accountability, if you screw up, your ass gets saved.